Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s ambitious ¥4 trillion ($27 billion) spending spree to revive the nation’s semiconductor industry also aims to help re-orient the economy back to a positive growth cycle sought by the government and central bank.
Already there’s anecdotal evidence emerging from Hokkaido and Kumamoto Prefecture that the new chip projects are starting to impact the local economies and stem the tide of people flocking to Tokyo for better jobs and schooling.
Yuto Oikawa, a realtor in Chitose, Hokkaido, can’t keep up with calls as the city transforms from a backwater to one of the nation’s hottest real estate markets thanks to the construction of a ¥2 trillion semiconductor foundry subsidized by Kishida’s chip plan. "We are completely short-handed,” said Oikawa, 32. "It’s blown me away.”